Sophronia Bucklin

Sophronia E. Bucklin (1828–1902, in other sources listed as "Sophronia Brecklin") was a nurse during the American Civil War. From Auburn, New York, Bucklin served for almost three years of the American Civil War. She worked with numerous hospitals and was present at many notable battles throughout the latter half of the war, until General Lee's surrender. Bucklin was devoted to the war effort, and though dependent on wages for her own living, felt the "same patriotism" as male volunteers.

Civil War service At the outbreak of the war, Bucklin was in her late 20s to early 30s, living independently as a seamstress in Auburn, New York. As one of the many women serving under Dorothea Dix, Bucklin's service began at the Judiciary Hospital. A mere three months later, she was transferred to a Baptist church to take care of a nurse who had become ill. At the completion of Gettysburg, Bucklin spent the next seven or eight months nearby at Stoneman's Cavalry Hospital near Washington, D.C. In the winter of 1863, Bucklin came down with a fever. Her illness proved to be quite extensive, and in her aforementioned letter to Holland she writes that the other hospital staff left her for dead. Her illness, however, did not deter her from caring for patients.